


Hard Consequences For Thea

by changingdestiny4



Category: Arrow (TV 2012)
Genre: Angry Oliver Queen, Angry Team Arrow, Angst and Reconciliation, Malcolm Merlyn Gets What He Deserves, Minor Roy Harper/Thea Queen, Repentant Thea Queen, Thea Gets A Stiff Talking To & Some Consequences
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-14
Updated: 2019-08-14
Packaged: 2020-08-23 10:42:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,912
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20241529
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/changingdestiny4/pseuds/changingdestiny4
Summary: A season 3 AU in which, unlike in canon, Thea actually receives a hard dose of reality and firm consequences over her alliance with Malcolm, Oliver and the team not pulling any punches with her. Not Thea friendly.





	Hard Consequences For Thea

**Author's Note:**

> I’ve been thinking about this recently, but while there are those who agree that Nora being locked up on “The Flash” was necessary and that her actions were unforgivable, no one’s seemed to also address, which is a recent realization of mine, that Thea virtually did the same thing in S3 when she sided with Malcolm, but worse for many reasons, particularly in regards to her motives. 
> 
> Instead they seem to have, more or less, given her a pass except for the occasional scolding while she’s still a favorite character for many but feel that Nora can never be forgiven.
> 
> Because of that I’ve written this slight S3 change in that Thea gets real consequences because if Nora got some for her own actions, shouldn’t Thea as well?

Thea made her way to the bunker, which she knew as the main headquarters for Oliver’s mission, curious as to why she’d been summoned there. After arriving she saw, standing inside, the angry faces of Oliver, Laurel, Roy, Diggle, and Felicity staring at her. This made her even more curious and also nervous, more so when Oliver moved closer to her, holding some photos.

“Thea, would you by any chance know anything about this?”, he asked her, his voice stern. Thea looked at the photos and to her surprise they showed her at different places with none other than Malcolm Merlyn, her birth father. Others showed her staring at him with daughterly affection. She put her hand to her mouth and gulped, her eyes darting back and forth as she stared as the glaring faces around her.

“Listen, Ollie, I can explain”, she tried to start when Oliver interrupted her.

“Explain what Thea? Explain how you’ve been lying to all of us this whole time about your relationship with Malcolm or that you knew all along that he was still alive? How you’ve been consorting with him for who knows how long?”

Thea took a deep breath and decided to answer those last words from her brother.

“It was during Slade’s siege, shortly after I had left and gone to the train station. Malcolm saved me from one of Slade’s thugs.”

Oliver nodded in understanding, but he was still angry.

“I understand him saving your life and that you might have felt that you owed him something, but why would you go away with him despite knowing everything he’s done? And you can’t say you didn’t since everyone here and throughout the city knows everything he’s done and the horrific crimes he’s committed. He even tried to kill me 3 times and I barely escaped with my life during those circumstances. WHAT THE H*** WERE YOU THINKING!!?” At that moment, Thea got angry.

“You know what Ollie, it’s actually all your fault. You’re the one who didn’t tell me about Malcolm being my father and let me believe in a lie all of this time, you, mom, and dad lying to me all of my life, and you dragged my boyfriend into your crusade despite my wishes to the contrary. And so what if Malcolm’s a mass murderer and tried to blow up the city, at least he’s honest with me and cares more about me than you ever were. And at least he’s also helping me not to be so weak and trusting but is training me and helping me to be strong”, she said as she smarted off at him.

Oliver and the others could not believe the words they were hearing from her, becoming even more upset with her by the minute.

“Now see here Thea, I did NOT know about Malcolm not being your father originally and only learned that fact recently, and the reason I did not say anything was because I did not want you to be hurt or have to feel the burden of the knowledge that your birth father was the man you had, at one point, recognized as extremely evil. And our parents have made a lot of mistakes but still loved you unconditionally, provided for you, especially Robert who did not have to care for you since you weren’t his but did so anyway. And your mom even went as far as to give her life for you. And now you have the temerity to spit in their memories by standing with Malcolm, the two of you side by side?”

“And for the record Thea, Oliver did not drag me into his crusade as you put it”, Roy added, picking up from where Oliver had left off. “I chose to join him because I wanted to make a difference and help my home and this city and if you can’t understand that, outside of your fear that I could get hurt or killed, a concern that I do understand but only that, then what’s the point of us being together? And if you were so interested in being stronger then you could’ve come to me and I could’ve taught you some moves and given you some training. Or even Dig here since you probably also know that he was in the military, Special Forces”.

“And you could’ve also come to me as well Thea since I see you as another sister and really care about you”, Laurel also added, her voice full of disappointment. “My dad gave self-defense lessons to me and Sara and if you’d come to me then I could’ve helped and also given you some fighting lessons. I can’t believe you would be so foolish and stupid and especially after the fact that you know, regardless of whether or not it was his intent, he sent Sara to her supposed death. And you working with him despite that particular fact is a betrayal to me as well”.

“Not only that, but Mr. Queen, the man you originally saw as your father, clearly gave more of a da** about you than Malcolm ever did, and you have the nerve to betray his memory by being with the man who murdered him?”, Felicity asked, so disappointed in Thea and her foolishness. And even Diggle said something in regards to all of this.

“Felicity’s right, and you should’ve known better. Frankly what you did and have been doing is a betrayal to all of us and is unforgivable.”

Oliver on his part just stood back and listened to what everyone else had to say, grateful for all of them having his back, and also looked at the range of emotions on Thea’s face as she finally had the decency to look abashed as she took in everyone’s words. Before she could say anything, Oliver continued.

“Frankly Thea, due to your behavior of joining forces with Malcolm despite knowing from the very beginning the type of man he was and after everything those of us who already care about you have done for you, standing side by side with him, my mortal enemy even before Slade, and lying to us for months while keeping him still being alive secret for said months which could’ve been a security risk for all of us. 

“I also agree with Dig here in that all of that is unforgivable. And you also could’ve gone to Roy, Laurel, and even Diggle for training if you truly wanted to be stronger.

“Not only that, but even if you did not knowingly participate in what I’m about to say, Malcolm could’ve easily been using you all along as a source of intel for my and my team’s operations, and that makes you a liability. I won’t go as far as to call you a danger to us but I wouldn’t judge anyone who might see otherwise.

“Oh, and for the record, working with Malcolm had nothing to do with helping us or helping me with anything and therefore you have no justifiable reason on your part to have anything to do with him. You were really out of line.”

Hearing all of this caused Thea to hang her head down in shame, knowing that everyone in the room was right.

“You’re right Ollie, Roy, Dig, Laurel, and Felicity. I did not see it like that and had only been doing what I did because I was angry, hurt, and resentful. But that does not justify my actions and all of you are correct”, she said to them, her eyes glistening with unshed tears.

“You’re right Thea, it does not, and I’m glad you’re starting to see reason. But I’m still very upset with you and actions do have consequences. Therefore you will be locked up, and confined, to our loft for 24 hours, both as a punishment for your actions, for you take some time to think about them, and to ensure that you won’t be around to interfere when I call Nyssa to deliver Malcolm to her and the League for punishment. I have a feeling you won’t interfere since you seem to be starting to see reason, but I’m not taking my chances with this.

“In addition, you won’t be allowed inside of this bunker for some time until we’re able to trust you again.”

Thea gulped, heartbroken, but knew that he and the rest were justified in their words and actions. She watched as everyone turned and walked away before briefly calling out to her brother.

“Ollie?”, she called out to him. Oliver stopped for a moment and turned his head to the side.

“I’m so sorry I lied to you” she said to him, beginning to cry. Oliver just sighed.

“So am I Thea, so am I. But know that I’ll never stop loving you but you’re still in big trouble nonetheless.” Everyone then went on ahead except for Roy, who decided to stay behind for a moment. After everyone else was gone, he turned to his girlfriend.

“Listen Thea, I love you and always will, but for now I can’t even stand to look at you or to be anywhere near you. Therefore I would like a break for some time and please don’t reach out to me or contact me until I allow you to or if it’s an emergency. In fact, while I can’t speak for everyone else, I think it’d be wise of you to give all of us some space and not speak to the others, including Oliver, for a little while.”

His words left Thea even more heartbroken than before, but she nodded nonetheless.

Oliver was true to his word and locked Thea away, inside of their loft, while he and Laurel contacted Nyssa and allowed her to take Malcolm away and ensure that he’d receive his just dues. Needless to say, Malcolm got all of that, and then some, and Ra’s guaranteed that he’d never see the light of day ever again. It would also later be revealed that he’d drugged Thea into murdering Sara, further causing Thea to realize how wrong she’d been to trust and stand by him. She would offer her life to Nyssa over it but the other woman refused since Thea was drugged while deciding that her having to live with it was punishment enough.

And in regards to Malcolm, Thea, wanting to prove that she’d truly repented, had voluntarily told Oliver, Laurel, and Nyssa where Malcolm was hiding, causing a little bit of respect for her to be regained by the first two.

It would be a few months though before Thea was able to fully prove she’d changed but she did and was able to mend fences with everyone she’d wrong over what they were all referring to as Malcolmgate. Eventually they let her back into the fold, albeit with a stern warning to not pull another stunt like that again or to ever lie to them again and keep secrets that could jeopardize or harm the team.

She also reconciled with Roy and knew she was beyond blessed that he, her brother, and everyone else had even decided to forgive her, knowing they were right in that her actions were unforgivable. She’d go on to take this entire experience as a lesson she’d never forget and strived to become a better person, and she never, ever, gave her loved ones and the team any reason not to trust her.

The End

**Author's Note:**

> And that’s it folks, and to those that read this, thank you for reading. If any of you however feel that I was a little too harsh with Thea here, please let me know here.
> 
> In regards to Roy’s advice to Thea on not talking to anyone for the time being, that was supposed to mirror Barry sending Nora back to the future, basically cutting her off from her family and the team in the present, while forbidding her from returning.
> 
> And while I’m a firm believer in forgiveness due to being a Christian, there may be some people who might consider Thea’s actions regarding her involvement with Malcolm to be unforgivable and if so, then I understand where they’re coming from.


End file.
